'Battlefield V' returns to WWII with ever-evolving multiplayer

On the same day as Apple announced the rollout of its iOS Game Center platform for next week, Aurora Feint, creator of the OpenFeint social network for iPhone/iPod Touch, says it will enable real-time multiplayer gameplay between iOS and Android devices later this year with OpenFeint PlayTime. The new developer tools will also allow real-time voice chat during gameplay across both mobile platforms.

"Traditionally, multiplayer technology has been accessible only to top tier developers. It's just too complicated and time consuming," Aurora Feint CEO Jason Citron said in the announcement. "So we invented PlayTime, which literally takes one day to integrate into a casual game."

Features will include VoIP, lobbies and matchmaking for "casual games," expanding to incorporate team-based voice chat and 16 player game servers for "core" titles.